Author: Hu Jianli
The film "Hot Search" tells the story behind a "girl’s bullying on campus" incident. By launching an online public opinion war, the heroine finally reveals the criminal truth of the real abuser, which not only has ups and downs and many reversals, but also reveals how online public opinion is incited and used.
In the current complex network public opinion environment in China, the release of this film is just the right time, which well reflects the presence and timeliness of film and television works, has a strong social practical significance, and has a warning effect on the majority of netizens. It is a realistic genre film with novel ideas and thought-provoking.
In 2013, Xin Yukun, a 29-year-old young director, won the Best Director Award at the 8th FIRST Youth Film Festival and the Best New Director nomination at the 51st Taiwan Film Golden Horse Award for his blockbuster suspense film Heart Maze. In 2017, the crime suspense film "Burst Silent" directed by him also enjoyed a good reputation, with 8.2 points for Douban and 54.25 million yuan at the box office.
In the above two films, Xin Yukun showed his exquisite multi-line circuitous narrative ability and unique cold realistic image style. Hot Search is the third cinema film directed by him independently, which also has suspense and criminal elements. The difference is that the story takes place in contemporary China metropolis, focusing on hot social topics such as online public opinion, online violence and sexual assault, which is more likely to resonate with young audiences.
This time, Xin Yukun took the initiative to change the theme and background of the story, and adopted a typological narrative technique that was more in line with the aesthetics of ordinary audiences. He told a story that was not very complicated, which was exciting and full of twists and turns, and was quite ornamental and topical, showing his strong narrative ability as always.Compared with the previous two works, Hot Search is a mature commercial film, but the background color of sharp observation of social reality and concern for vulnerable groups has not changed.
At the beginning of the film, Chen Miao, the editor-in-chief of the media played by Zhou Dongyu, published an explosive article on "Girls’ Campus Bullying" on the large-scale operated by his team, and also talked proudly about the skills of inciting online public opinion at the pre-editing meeting: "If netizens want to scold Zhang Xiaosui, we will provide scolding points". Unexpectedly, the girl Zhang Xiaosui committed suicide by jumping off a building after encountering cyber violence. Before jumping off the building, she sent a letter to Chen Miao to explain the hidden feelings. Chen Miaocai knew that she had been accidentally used as a gun. Although she had a desire for traffic and an ambition to become bigger and stronger from the media, she was a media person with conscience at heart. In order to make amends and get justice for Zhang Xiaosui, with the help of her colleagues, she burned her bridges and launched a just online public opinion war with Justin.
The framework of the whole story is not complicated, but the advantages are full and vivid details, exquisite narrative techniques, foreshadowing from time to time, and even sharp contrast between the hero and heroine, leaving some suspense until the last moment. Although it is not difficult to guess, because the focus of this film is not to create a suspense atmosphere, it enhances the drama and appreciation of the film.
Through the superb typological narrative skills presented in Hot Search, Xin Yukun once again proved himself to be a master narrator among the new generation directors in China, who can not only tell complex stories clearly, but also tell simple stories twists and turns.
Although Hot Search is a commercial film, it has a sharp observation and vivid description of the current chaos of online public opinion in China, showing reflection on online violence, criticism of those who are rich and heartless, and sympathy for the vulnerable groups.
In recent years, some plots in TV series, such as The Beginning and Imperfect Victims, have expressed and reflected on the phenomenon of cyber violence. However, on the big screen, except for a film "Search" directed by Chen Kaige in 2012, few works with this theme have met the audience. "Hot Search" can be called the most complete, complete and profound domestic film that shows the chaos of network public opinion and the phenomenon of network violence so far, and it has great social practical significance.
The film describes in detail the whole process of Chen Miao’s self-media and the investors behind it inciting and using online public opinion, and shows the audience the complete processing process of "hot search" one after another, which has a certain behind-the-scenes nature.
In the film, as an influential editor-in-chief from the media, Chen Miao’s mantra when she first appeared was "There are hot spots that cannot be ignored". In order to attract fans’ attention and reading, and win investors to increase investment, she broke the news about the video with ulterior motives, deliberately incited speculation without investigation and verification, and concocted the topic of "girl bullying on campus" into a hot search, which triggered cyber violence against Zhang Xiaosui, a girl who was pushed by netizens. Unexpectedly, as Zhang Xiaosui committed suicide by jumping off a building, online public opinion reversed, and netizens began to accuse Chen Miao of eating "human blood steamed bread" from the media. Chen Miao had a brainwave and quickly came up with a new trick: throwing a pot at a swearing netizen, interviewing Zhang Xiaosui’s mother, and using the video of the other side’s tears, not only earned another wave of traffic, but also successfully washed himself.
The wolf has a winning game when the shepherds quarrel. Chen Miao’s self-media farewell concoction of hot search and harvest traffic is just a pawn of the boss of the investor behind it, and Chen Miao is still complacent when he is shot by others. Subsequently, Chen Miao launched an online public opinion war with the other party to uncover the truth. The two sides constantly broke the news, and the public opinion reversed several times. Justice was once forced to the rescue …
The online public opinion war described in Hot Search not only makes the audience who are not familiar with online hype look thrilling, but also makes everyone alert: sometimes the so-called facts you see online are not necessarily the facts, and the so-called truth you see is not necessarily the truth. Each of us should maintain the ability of independent thinking, be objective and rational when speaking online, and don’t become an accomplice of cyber violence.
One of the most heartbreaking news in the first half of this year was that a primary school student in Hubei was knocked down by a car and killed. In the process of seeking advice from the school, his mother was attacked and insulted by some netizens because of her good image and elegant dress. In the end, the distraught and unbearable mother committed suicide by jumping off a building at the first seven hours of her child.
How to make the cyber violence that Hubei’s mother encountered before her death not happen again? How to make the cyber violence that Zhang Xiaosui encountered in the film not repeat itself? The film "Hot Search" has played a very good role in alerting the majority of netizens. I hope everyone can learn from it, consciously oppose cyber violence and jointly create a clean and tidy network public opinion environment.
(The writer is Secretary-General of China Film Critics Association and Secretary-General of New Media Committee of China Literary Critics Association.)